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 Double amputee Pistorius, once a national icon for reaching the
pinnacle of sport, is accused of murdering his law graduate and
model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria on
Valentine's Day last year.
If found guilty of premeditated murder, he could face life in
prison. A potential lesser charge of culpable homicide could carry a
sentence of 15 years.
Since the trial opened in early March, Nel has portrayed Pistorius
as a gun-obsessed hothead who shot 29-year-old Steenkamp four times
through a locked toilet door where she was taking refuge after a
heated argument.
The defense team says Pistorius, nicknamed the 'blade runner' after
his hi-tech prosthetics, was a vulnerable and caring boyfriend who
killed Steenkamp by accident after mistaking her for an intruder
hiding behind the door.
"The court should have no difficulty in rejecting his full version
of events, not only as not reasonably possibly true, but in essence
as being absolutely devoid of any truth," Nel told the Pretoria
court during his closing arguments.
Nel, known as 'The Pitbull' because of his fierce cross-examination
style and penchant for the dramatic, said Pistorius was caught up in
a "snowball of lies".
Lead defense attorney Barry Roux began his closing response by
accusing the state of deliberately avoiding calling witnesses whose
evidence would have damaged their case.
Roux will give the bulk of his wrap-up on Friday, which is expected
to be the final day of a long-overrun trial.
There is no jury, and so the verdict hinges on whether judge
Thokozile Masipa believes Pistorius' version of events. If she
rejects his defense, she would only be able to consider the state's
case, circumstantial evidence and the balance of probabilities.
CONFLICTING VERSIONS
Nel spent the morning session trying to pick apart what he says is
the contradictory evidence provided by Pistorius, 27, often shaking
his head and holding his hands up in disbelief as he read from the
athlete's testimony.
During his cross-examination, an emotional Pistorius said he had
fired his gun accidentally without knowing what he was doing,
straying from his original argument that he had shot knowingly
because he thought his life was in danger.
Nel said Pistorius could not credibly assert that he had shot both
deliberately and accidentally.
"The accused never said to anyone that got to the scene: 'It was an
accident. The shot just went off'. He never said 'I didn't want to
shoot'," said Nel.
"He said: 'I thought it was a burglar and I shot her. Sorry, I shot
Reeva. I thought she was an intruder'," Nel said, reading from
testimony taken by police after the shooting.
Roux's team has said that psychological evidence shows Pistorius has
a 'heightened fight response' because of his disability and he would
be more likely to confront danger than able-bodied people.
Nel referred to the part of his cross-examination of Pistorius where
he analyzed pictures of the couple's bedroom, which he said showed
that the athlete's account of how he acted in the minutes before
Steenkamp's death was impossible.
Pistorius says the police tampered with the evidence and moved items
around the room, which Nel said was an "impossible conspiracy".
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CRIME SCENE
"The most devastating aspect of the accused' s evidence is his inability
and failure to contest the veracity of the scene's photographs ... as to
the condition of the scene prior to the commencement of any
investigation," Nel said.
"Equally devastating is the vagueness of his version and the how and
when the police would have tampered with the scene."
Roux said the defense was not arguing that there was a conspiracy but
that there was proof that officers disturbed the crime scene, citing a
photo submitted as evidence that showed a policeman moving a bedroom
plug.
Another pivotal moment in the case was evidence given by witnesses who
said they heard a woman scream prior to the sound of a volley of shots,
supporting the prosecution's argument that the couple had an argument
and Steenkamp feared for her life.
The defense says Pistorius sounds like a woman when he screams in
distress and the witnesses did not hear shots after the shouts but the
sound of Pistorius breaking down the door with a cricket bat after
Steenkamp was already dead.
Pistorius also faces three separate charges, including two counts of
discharging firearms in public and possession of illegal ammunition, all
of which he denies.
The fathers of both Pistorius and Steenkamp were in court for the first
time on Thursday. The runner, dressed in a dark suit and tie, sat
impassively through most of the proceedings.
The killing has shattered the image of Pistorius as an embodiment of
triumph over adversity for both his Paralympic victories and his success
against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics.
The athlete broke down frequently during the trial, often sobbing and
vomiting into a bucket.
The closing arguments were expected to last two days, after which judge
Masipa, who has more than 4,000 pages of evidence to review, will retire
to consider her verdict.
Masipa was only the second black woman to be appointed a high court
judge and has a reputation for handing down stiff sentences in crimes
against women.
(Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Sonya Hepinstall)
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